1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a composition providing a dietary supplement to inhibit the digestion of low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) thereby reducing the amount of cholesterol present in the bloodstream while consuming a food containing lipids, to reduce weight, and to increase high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) for improved human health.
2. Description of Related Art
Fats, also called lipids, are energy-rich substances that serve as major sources of fuel for the body's metabolic processes. Fats are obtained from food (meats, oils, and the like) and are formed in the body, mostly in the liver, and can be stored in fat cells for future use. Fat cells also insulate the body from cold and help protect the body from injury. Fats are essential components of cell membranes of the myelin sheaths that surround nerve cells and of bile.
The two major fats in the blood are cholesterol and triglyceride. The fats attach themselves to certain proteins so they can travel throughout the bloodstream; the combined fats and proteins are called lipoproteins, which are discussed below.
The body regulates lipoprotein levels in several ways. One way is by reducing the synthesis of lipoproteins and their entry into the bloodstream. Another is by increasing or decreasing the rate at which lipoproteins are removed from the blood.
Heart disease is the number one fatal disease in the United States. More than one million people suffer from heart attacks annually, and more than half of those people die.
The most common form of heart disease is arteriosclerosis or "hardening of the arteries." Arteriosclerosis is a progressive disease in which the interior walls of an artery become coated with fatty substances, such as cholesterol.
Arteriosclerosis develops slowly over the years. Fat and cholesterol, mixed with smooth muscle cells and calcium, form a material called plaque that builds up on the inside of artery walls.
The rate at which plaque builds up on the walls of arteries is dependent upon how much cholesterol the arteries are exposed to. Cholesterol is a waxy substance generated primarily in the liver. It is also found in foods of animal origin, such as meats and dairy products.
Cholesterol is a part of all cell membranes and is needed to make sex hormones, vitamin D, and bile, which allows humans to digest fats. Although cholesterol is important to the body, large amounts of cholesterol are not really needed in the diet because the liver makes a sufficient amount. Some scientific knowledge suggests that the way cholesterol is transported through the blood is even more significant in the development of arteriosclerosis. Cholesterol does not travel through the blood freely by itself, but is wrapped in a protein package.
A tiny glob of fat wrapped in protein is called a lipoprotein.
There are different types of lipoproteins which also differ in the amount of cholesterol and other fats they carry and are identified by their densities. Low-density lipoproteins are referred to as LDLs, and are sometimes referred to as "bad cholesterol." High-density lipoproteins are referred to as HDLs, and are considered "good cholesterol." There are also very low- density lipoproteins, VLDLs, which eventually get converted to LDLs.
LDLs are the main carriers of cholesterol and contain less protein and more lipids, or fats, than HDLs. As the LDLs travel through the arteries, carrying cholesterol to cells, LDLs can interact with existing plaque buildup, shedding the protein barriers, causing cholesterol to be deposited along artery walls, which adds to the accumulation of plaque.
On the other hand, HDLs can actually help remove cholesterol Adfrom the body because HDLs pick up excess cholesterol which is carried back to the liver, and is eventually excreted.
Serum cholesterol (blood cholesterol) is measured by a blood test that determines milligrams of cholesterol in a deciliter of blood (MG/DL).
As LDLs travel through the bloodstream, they are attracted and pulled into cells by special protein receptors on the surface of the cells. Only the LDLs that are not caught by receptors are carried to the liver, where they are converted into bile acid and eventually excreted by the body. When a person consumes too much lipids or fats, such as animal fats, for a meal, the bloodstream can become flooded with tiny particles carrying fats and cholesterol, digested in the intestines, out to the rest of the body. The liver becomes overtaxed trying to get rid of fatty particles based on excess LDLs in the blood. Therefore, the excess LDL particles circulating through the bloodstream, lead to the formation of plaques. HDLs travel through the bloodstream picking up bits of excess cholesterol and carrying them back to the liver for processing. In addition to studies regarding LDLs in the blood and HDLs in the blood, much research has centered around the consumption of animal fats in the human diet.
Triglycerides are made up of three fatty-acid molecules attached to one molecule of glycerol. These fatty acids can be saturated or unsaturated. Triglycerides make up approximately 95 percent of the fat and oil that human beings consume, as well as the fat traveling through the bloodstream, and which is stored in the body. Like cholesterol, a high level of triglycerides in the blood has been linked to coronary heart disease. When sugar is consumed, triglyceride levels in the blood rise. There is scientific controversy over how much of a factor sugar is in the development of coronary disease. There is a controversy as to whether or not the temporary rise in triglycerides caused by sugar consumption is dangerous for most people. The present invention also has the purpose of controlling or reducing the amount of triglycerides present in the bloodstream by preventing their absorption into the digestive process by reducing or eliminating triglycerides prior to the digestive process.
Fats that humans eat are saturated, mono-unsaturated, and polyunsaturated. Saturated fats that are generally solid at room temperature are the most likely to increase serum cholesterol. The liver uses saturated fat to make cholesterol, so that the more saturated fat a food contains, the more it is likely to raise serum cholesterol. Saturated fats are found in meats, dairy products, milk, butter, cream, and cheese, as well as some oils, such as coconut oil and palm oil, which are high in saturated fats.
Polyunsaturated fats are soft or liquid at room temperature, and encompass vegetable oils, such as corn, cottonseed, soybean, sunflower, and safflower oils. Polyunsaturated fats tend to lower the level of cholesterol in the blood.
Mono-unsaturated fats, such as olive and peanut oil, may equal or be even better than polyunsaturates at reducing levels of harmful cholesterol. The fat in cold water fish is polyunsaturated, which allows it to stay liquid in even very cold water.
Therefore, based on the most recent studies, lowering LDL cholesterol amounts and increasing HDL cholesterol during consumption of animal fats and dairy products would be more beneficial for human health.
Although changing one's diet is certainly one way to achieve these objectives, it is difficult in the United States and other Western industrialized nations' cultures to achieve a fat-free or minimal fat diet because of the foods available.
The present invention provides a way to lower the serum LDL cholesterol amounts, while allowing a person to eat meats and dairy products using natural and prepared dietary supplements that are believed to reduce or inhibit the absorption and ingestion of lipids into the cells by binding LDL cholesterol before the LDLs get into the bloodstream, allowing the LDLs to pass through a person's body without being ingested into the bloodstream. The LDLs are based on fat substances that pass through the body through normal excretion.
The use of the present invention provides for a dietary supplement made of a composition of ingredients that produce a synergistic interaction of natural ingredients that greatly reduce dangerous cholesterol and triglyceride levels to reduce the possibility of coronary disease and can act to aid in weight loss by preventing fats from being absorbed into the bloodstream or cells in the body.
Drugs have been used to lower levels of blood fats in human beings. For example, bile acid absorbers, such as cholestyramine and colestipol bind bio-acids in the intestine which enhances LDL removal from the bloodstream.
Niacin has been used to reduce the rate of VLDL production, which is the forerunner of LDL, and acts as a lipoprotein synthesis inhibitor.
Also, coenzyme A reductase inhibitors, such as fluvastatin, lovastatin, pravastatin, and simvastatin, are drugs that block the synthesis of cholesterol, enhancing the removal of LDL from the bloodstream. Finally, fibric acid derivatives, such as clofibrate, fenofibrate, and gemfibrozil, aid in the breakdown of fats.
However, the use of drugs often includes undesirable side effects.
The present invention provides for dietary supplements in a composition formed from natural elements which work together to greatly reduce and inhibit the amounts of LDLs, or bad cholesterol, and triglycerides in the body. This will result in lowering overall cholesterol amounts, and should aid in weight loss.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,023, issued Sep. 16, 1980 to Furda, describes a non-absorbable lipid binder that uses chitosan as a food additive or as a pharmaceutical preparation to reduce absorption of lipids. U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,282, issued Sep. 26, 1995 to Kanauchi et al., describes dietary lipid digestion/absorption inhibitory agents and ingesta. This agent is comprised of a mixture of chitosan and ascorbic acid or a salt thereof. Both of these patents are for the treatment of obesity.
The chitin of insect exoskeletons and fungal cell walls is another extraordinarily abundant organic substance and is a polysaccharide, and in fact a linear polymer of a sugar derivative called N-acetylglucosamine. Chitosan is prepared by the alkaline deacetylation of chitin with concentrated sodium hydroxide at elevated temperatures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,023 discusses the effect of chitosan and its capabilities of binding very fatty acids to form corresponding complex salts. The chitosan-fatty acid complex, after ingestion by a mammal, will bind additional lipids due to its strong hydrophobic characteristics, which would include natural triglycerides, fatty and bile acids, and cholesterol and other sterols, and a great portion of these bile lipids will be excreted rather than absorbed and utilized by the human.